GEORGIA: NATO ASSESSMENT TEAM OUTBRIEF ON HEELS OF

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 001773 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/16/2019 TAGS: PREL PGOV GG SUBJECT: GEORGIA: NATO ASSESSMENT TEAM OUTBRIEF ON HEELS OF SEPTEMBER 7-9 VISIT Classified By: Charge d'Affaires a.i. Kent Logsdon for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d). ¶1. (C) Summary. Frank Boland, Head of Force Planning Department of NATO Defense Policy and Planning Division, and lead for the NATO Planning and Review Process (PARP) and Annual National Program (ANP) assessment team, briefed NATO Ambassadors and defense attaches on their most recent review, giving Georgia a mixed score on the defense aspects of the ANP. The assessment, conducted September 7-11, was the first since Georgia's adoption of an ANP in April. Boland complimented the GOG on its decision to commit forces to ISAF under French and U.S. command but noted that allies will need to examine Georgia's National Security Review (NSR) closely. The team's impression was that work on the NSR may be under way in the various ministries but that the efforts "may be disconnected." According to Boland, Georgia has a long way to go in developing "lessons learned" from the 2008 conflict, and a plan for future engagement with Russia and the breakaway regions. However, Boland did recognize progress in improving personnel administration and transparency, and when asked, acknowledged that Georgia was far ahead of Ukraine in its ANP process. End Summary. ¶2. (C) This September 10 review covered only the defense aspects of the ANP, and will be followed by a second team's visit to Georgia at the end of September to focus on political, economic, resource, protective security and legal chapters of the ANP. The assessment report will be prepared when the team returns to Brussels, and a draft copy will be given to the MOD for final comment. Afterwards, the report will be presented to the NATO Political Military Steering Committee on 26 October, and will be available to NATO Foreign Ministers before their December meeting. TRANSPARENCY ¶3. (C) In general, Boland stated that the assessment team was concerned about favoritism and corruption at the Ministry of Defense, and that a greater change in the culture of public administration is necessary. That said, Boland also stressed that a great deal of progress has been made, and that many of his interlocutors (at MOD, NSC, and Ministry of Finance) stressed how much work they had personally undertaken to meet NATO requirements. This led to a discussion on stability in leadership. Though Boland said that President Saakashvili can make changes as he pleases, six Defense Ministers is "a lot for six years." Boland emphasized the importance of continuity of both policy and personnel regardless of changes in leadership. ¶4. (C) Boland quipped in the briefing for the diplomatic corps that their Ministry of Internal Affairs (MOIA) contact said transparency is their "motto for 2009." Boland reported that, thus far, the MOIA needed to work on transparency, and that its work on lessons learned from the August war has thus far been an "exchange of views" but nothing on paper. He also urged NATO allies to pay closer attention to the paramilitary aspects of the MOIA, and he planned to raise the issue of greater clarity on the roles of MOD and MOIA in his forthcoming meeting with the Georgian government, as well as with allies in Brussels. During the question and answer period he commented that clearly defined roles for each ministry do not exist with regards to the separatist regions. With this in mind, the assessment team requested clarification from the GOG on the roles of the ministries, which, according to Boland, does not even seem clear to the Qwhich, according to Boland, does not even seem clear to the Georgians. ¶5. (C) The PARP/ANP team is still waiting for an updated defense budget from the Georgians beyond 2010 (the team currently has projected budgets). Boland said that it is clear that "finance is an issue" for both MOD and MOIA, although Deputy Minister of Finance Petriashvili told him he projects 5 percent growth in GDP for 2011. WORKING WITH BREAKAWAY REGIONS AND RUSSIA ¶6. (C) Boland highlighted that the Ministry of Defense had not produced a lessons learned report following the 2008 conflict. (Embassy note: He requested this report be shared with NATO allies in Tbilisi once it is complete. Subsequent to the NATO team's return to Brussels a copy of a lessons learned report was provided to the International Staff and to U.S. defense advisors in Tbilisi. The report is superficial and is only three pages for each of the Joint Staff and Ministry of Defense lessons learned portions. End note.) The Ministry of Defense recognizes deficiencies in the military education system and is addressing them, as well as serious equipment modernization needs which Georgia seeks to address. Boland said that GEL 145 million (USD 85,798,816) TBILISI 00001773 002 OF 002 in the 2010 defense budget could potentially be used for non-fixed costs such as equipment and infrastructure. Compared to fellow NATO aspirant Ukraine, which according to Boland is operating at a "survival level" of just paying salaries and making other plans based on a "special fund" that is not backed by a budget, Georgia is doing well. LOGSDON